Germany non-committal on ending Modi boycott

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Last Updated: Sat, Oct 13, 2012 15:17 hrs

New Delhi: Germany on Saturday remained non-committal on whether it would follow Britain in resuming engagement with Gujarat but said it was kept informed by the UK before the announcement of the decision.

"There is nothing for us to comment. We, Germany, do not have the intention to interfere in the ongoing election campaign in Gujarat elections," German Ambassador Michael Steiner said.

His response came when asked to comment on Britain's announcement yesterday to resume engagement with Gujarat, ending a 10-year boycott of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, and whether Germany would follow suit.

Mr Steiner also said Britain had informed Germany prior to the announcement of its decision.

The remarks were made at a discussion on Shashi Tharoor's book 'Pax Indica'.

Mr Stenier said trade is beneficial for India and Germany and "it is in our interest to have companies who want to go and stay there for a longer time".

Mr Tharoor said India has a secular image but the 2002 riots have done a colossal damage to India's reputation in the outside world.

On India's decision to open up FDI, Mr Steiner said, "India has two per cent share in global trade. If you want to achieve eight per cent growth, you can only do this, if you bridge the gap between two per cent to 20 per cent in trade."